Right now, As it stands RE: NE's1stRoundSelection(s), and in light of the Koppen & Connelly signings, Devon Still is by FAR & Away, THE Best Draftee Selection, that NE can and should take home in the 1st...

The more and more gamefilm I watch on these guys, The more and more impressed I am RE: DevonStill... The guy is just a beast: The guy is massive...and strong...and relentless...but what he has and does better than ANY-one his size, Is that his first step off the snap, Is just LIGHTNING FAST. I'm talkin' Explosive. He's got the size and strength to play as a 3-4 DE, but he has that simply exceptional 1st step and pure quick explosion to also simply dominate at as a 4-3 DT. Devon Still IS the very best Defensive Tackle in this entire 2012 NFL Draft...the fact that NE just might be in place to acquire a quality 3-4 DE, with their usual set-place of finishing every season winning-enough to miss out on the blue-chippers at this spot, makes a selection of Devon Still, an absolute jackpot imo (only reason, is that teams are now valueing EVERY-thing...far more equally position-wise in Rd #1, good or bad: Along with the standard LOTs, and QB's and DT's, and 1 or 2 WRs, we're now seeing more WRs, RBs jumping back a little into the mix (after a few year void), More OGs (rather than none, we're getting 2 now), An OC, An ILB or 2 (very rare), pass-rushing specialists, and more and more (and more) CBs. I guess what I'm sayin' is...even being in PLACE to just target Devon Still at the bottom 1/3rd of Round #1, would make a NE selection of him, an absolute coup.

Much can be said the same RE: CourtneyUpshaw... The guy's only slippin' because NO-one knows exactly where, or how to place the guy in an ordered system and at a concrete set-position chess piece. He's 6'2 (barely), and 272lbs...yet, he's a bullet (more like a bowling ball/wrecking ball- probably the perfect analogy for the guy). His center of gravity is so low, and he's so compact & strong, that coupled with his unusual speed and quickness at that 270+ Pound Mass, He'll be a hard defender to deal with on the Offensive Side of the ball.

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Some others (guys who may have been slighted in the largely pointless Combine, and coupled with many talking head draft analysts kow-towing and stepping in line with 1 another, are getting short-changed...until you actually SEE their filmwork):

DerekWolfe- A 6'5 295lb DT out of Cincinnatti- Here is my Absolute #3 "Trust Me" Player (along w/ Still & Ballard <unless ya wanna include my long-standing man-love for Peter Konz- the oc for NE however, no longer a bigger need>. Wolfe is another freak of speed and size. He can play 3-4 DE, 4-3 DT, along with him actually having enough speed (And DOING in the college ranks)- to be utilized in sub packages dropping off the line in various long yardage downs, and him centering the line ala Kyle Love, as an interior D-Line pass-rushing specialist (on long yardage downs resulting in very small numbered & pass-rushing specialized D-Line fronts, while in various forms of prevent D's behind said D-Line).

~coupleothers:

MitchellSchwartz- A 6'5 318lb OT out of California... I wish my pick from last year (Gabe Carimi) had totally panned out...well, he started to, solidify the entire right side of Chicago's hilariously bad O-Line, before getting minorly injured in the process; Wise Chicago Coaching desperately rushing him back in a week & a half's time, turned his injury into a subsequent season ender- (That franchise is tryin' to kill some of their players I think- see Matt Forte).

Safety- I'm torn between AntonioAllen (like you) & MarkeleMartin's skill (and the far lesser draft price he can be garnered for due to his current injury- 1 of his first in college, btw).

Donnie Fletcher- CB out of BC...UTTERLY underrated (now finally starting to move up the Big Board). Tore up coverage during The Senior Bowl week.

ofnote: IF it helps out, I too, Am also pretty d#mn high on Jayron Hosley (CB), and George Iloka (S)...I just begin to weigh in the pragmatics of what their overall draft selection on The Big Board will eventually be, As they are both not only massively rising up The Overall Big Board moving up to draft weekend, BUT they're also parcels of 2 positions which are more and more coveted & desperately needed, Cornerback (more CBs are being sought then ever) & Safety (Not only is Safety a big need for many teams during this particular draft, but it is rather tiny overall draft pool of talent at this position in this particular 2012 draft year).

ILB- I'm still high on Audie Cole (he's a gamer with a nose for the ball...yet still so raw and physically underdeveloped for his 6'4 245lb frame). I just think this new era of these 6'2-6'4 low 240lb-high 250'slb ILB guys will be all the rage, in terms of the crazy schematic & positional versatility they offer...so I want 1 Luke Kuechly, Dont'a Hightower, Tank Carder, Vontaze Burfict, Audie Cole...ALL ILB with the basic stoutness (even if not developed to each own's max potential), quickness and tackling ability of an ILB- BUT, with that added length, speed, and overall size that they can & do offer more of a pocket collapsing threat within their own individual right, in making it through that trenches-mass-of-bodies, As a nominal pass-rushing threat or simply within the added boosts of TFL skills and abilities (Like I said, I want one- Liking Cole still...but I AM very much warming up to mbeaulieu's sleeper OLB/ILB prospect from his thread a few pages back <just wish he was the smallest bit bigger>).

Still is more one dimensional than Worthy or Wolfe at DT who will both (if not all three) be available at 31. There isn't as much separation with DTs this year thanfor DEs. So even if Still is around when the Pats pick 27, they should pick Mercilus or Perry if either are there, to fill a higher priority positional need. In fact if Upshaw, Kikpatrick or barron are available, I take them over Still or DT (other than Cox, Brockers). Don't need to waste a pick on OT this year. Need DE, S, CB, DT and OLB first.

I'd take that draft although I'd like to see an edge rusher somewhere in the mix. If as you say a Bruce Irvin falls and the Pats are able to grab him by picking up a late round pick, that scenario or one close to it would fill many team needs and isn't completely out of the realm of possiblity considering some of the 7 round mocks I've perused. Of course be braced for the know it alls who will rip this MOCK apart without supplying any insight as to whom they would take.

Still is more one dimensional than Worthy or Wolfe at DT who will both (if not all three) be available at 31. There isn't as much separation with DTs this year thanfor DEs. So even if Still is around when the Pats pick 27, they should pick Mercilus or Perry if either are there, to fill a higher priority positional need. In fact if Upshaw, Kikpatrick or barron are available, I take them over Still or DT (other than Cox, Brockers). Don't need to waste a pick on OT this year. Need DE, S, CB, DT and OLB first.Posted by elDunker2

Oh god...just nooooo. Acquiring a DT/DE at a draft spot where you could never get someone of that skill-set in past memory in prior drafts, verses acquiring either of 2 1 year wonder DEs that you're gonna ask to also spend half their time learning to pass-cover and play in space as both a 4-3 DE and a 3-4 OLB...??? Noooo. And, I'm not sure who told you, but these DEs/DTs are NOT ALL created equal: Brockers is just f#k-#ng lazy...but he's got the size you pray for. Cox is excellent, but just like KC desperately moving up to target Tyson Jackson, a 6'3'ish guy of similiar weight, speed, size, and skill-set out of LSU in 2009, There is an EXTREMELY good chance that Cox's ideal placement of maximizing his potential, might not be as a 3-4 DE (of which, odds are, he'll never come close to being even a moderately dominant force at). Same with Worthy ("Still is MORE 1 dimensional than Worthy?!?!?"). Kirkpatrick's a CB (I'll cry if NE decides to take a Corner as the top positional talent vs. positional need to address).

Also, there's now talk about Still perhaps going as early as in the mid-late teens in Rd #1, while NFL analysts are more & more jumping on the "Derek Wolfe will be selected in Round #1" boat, as more and more definate based on Wolfe's quality of dominance.

Miami has the core of a good team by my ratings, although everybody knows that Miami's new coach will have a so-so first year laying in his personal new offense and some unnamed third party's new defense (the new coach was never a defensive coordinator before). Also, we'll all know whether the new Miami QB might be a rook by the bottom of the first round.

I think that a trade of #27 for Miami's first next year and a third this year will be too cheap for the Patriots' taste. Only trade down or out to make a good profit. The Pats can do much better in 2013 by trading with Oakland for example, or with almost anybody in the NFL but Miami. Don't help out a rival.

If it's somehow 100% guaranteed that Kendall Wright will be picked, make the trade. Shrimps with plenty of high-end speed are overrated. If the QB doesn't make all long throws accurately (in wind and in sleet, for example) then a shrimp WR can't stop the average cornerback from intercepting the ball. Of course you'll need another month to get inside the Miami coach's head too, and the draft is coming up too fast for that.

Love it, but ... you missed the second trade in the first round ... the hoodie speaks to me too, and I can see the Colts, Rams, and Cleveland getting into a bidding war for #31. Colts offer 34 and 2013 2nd, Cleveland offers #37, 67, and 2013 3rd, and the Rams swoop in with #39, 96 and 2013 1st at which point BB say "SOLD". He now owns 3 2013 first round picks, and finds he has the same options at #39 as he was looking at with #31. Meanwhile three other GMs have to be talked back in off the ledge of the tallest building in their respected cities.The Pats end up with new DT, DE, OLB, S, CB, OG/C, WR and KR plus unlimited possibilities to play the 2013 Draft, when both the Rams and Miami's picks end up in the top 5. NE ends up with the #2, #5 and #32 picks in 2013 which they then convert into the #8 and #20 picks in 2013, plus 2 additional firsts in 2014, plus 3 additional seconds in 2014 plus a first and second in 2015. After which the league passes a new rule outlawing any additional trades with BB.And then they gave me my meds and this dream disappeared!